My Little Big Sister
by Rainbow Daydreamer
Summary: They were at their lowest point. And then this girl came. Twenty years old but tiny, mysterious, courageous, quickthinking, and desperate to protect them ... like the little big sister they never had. Here to save two worlds. Takari
1. Newcomer

What do you do when you're stuck on a fic? Simple. You start another one.

My Little Big Sister

By RD

I don't own Digimon.

RD: Like Calmer of the Storm, I too have been slightly inspired by something I saw on Saturday morning television. With luck, though, I can put a spin on it. Since I'm trying to keep on people's right sides, no Tai/Matt/Sora/Mimi romance involved, at least if I can help it, but Takari Anyway.

Leave right now if you're: Anti-Takari or going to insult my physics.

Detectormon is my own.

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Part 1: Newcomer

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"Everybody _out_!" yelled Tai. The other Digidestined didn't disobey. They'd learnt to trust Tai's judgement, even if this was supposed to be one of the three safe spots left in the Digiworld. Matt grabbed TK, Tai pulled Kari.

"That was too close," Joe sighed as the kids scrambled to safety. "What is it with all these explosive attacks these days?"

Izzy frowned. "That makes two places in the Digiworld that're relatively safe for us. After that, we'd better have a plan B."

"OK. Where now?" sighed Tai.

It was so much harder for the Digidestined since the Detectormon had come along. With the special training they'd received, they could spot a Digivice miles away and home right in on it using ancient hunting instincts. Only a few remote places lay out of their sight.

Gatomon was chivvying Kari at the back of the group. "Left paw, right paw! Left paw, right paw! Come on, Kari, move!"

"This is no life for a Digidestined," buzzed Tentomon gloomily.

Eventually Izzy checked some figures and nodded. "This is the place, guys. They shouldn't find us here for a while."

Eight Digidestined collapsed in relief at the bottom of a huge, shady canyon. Mimi kicked off her shoes and stretched out wearily. "Man, am I glad to get some rest."

"Yeah," Sora agreed. "Thank goodness we've found somewhere sa-"

A blast of light shot past her ear and shattered a rock behind her. "What?" gasped Izzy, "I got these figures direct from the main system of the Digiworld! They can't be wrong!"

"Typical," sighed Matt. "We find the safest place to be in the Digiworld and it turns out some angry monsters have got there first."

"They're probably guarding their territory!" Izzy yelled. "Don't fight them!"

"So we should just let them attack us?"

Gatomon stood frightened, staring as a fierce-looking Digimon leapt out in front of her. Kari ran to her. "Gato, come on!"

"Kari!" shouted Tai. "_Look out_!"

It was too late. His sister fell to the ground, apparently unconscious. Tai ran forward, but Joe got there first, shaking the little eight-year-old and calling her name. "Wake up, Kari!" He looked around him at the ongoing battle: Izzy's advice had been put to one side the moment Kari had fallen.

His eyes travelled upwards. There was a sort of ledge in the rock, covered by a tiny cave. None of the attacks seemed to be reaching it.

"I'm taking Kari up there!" he yelled above the noise and started to climb the wall of the canyon.

Little Kari was surprisingly heavy when it came to carrying her on Joe's shoulder. He seemed to be managing, though, and as he climbed higher the sounds of the fighting below faded a little.

A voice. "OK, so what happens now? Ah..."

For a moment he looked to see if Kari had woken, then realised it must just be the strange echo in the canyon, channelling one of his friends' voices from the ground up to the cliff. Shaking his head, he continued to climb...

"JOE KIDO!"

Startled, he nearly fell.

"Come down from there!" A figure was standing at the foot of the cliff, hands cupped to shout at him. "You're in terrible danger!"

"Wh-what do you mean?" He had already moved downward in search of a foothold.

"Trust me!" the stranger shouted.

Joe completed the last few downward steps at a hasty scramble. Still carrying Kari over his shoulder, he jumped back.

A moment later, two stray attacks crossed paths and hit the very cliff where Joe had been climbing, scattering rocks and pebbles everywhere.

"Kari... I need to find somewhere else to..."

"She'll be _fine,_" said the voice behind him. "But you'd have been a goner if you'd tried to get her up that cliff."

Joe turned to look at the stranger who had saved his life. At first he thought the unknown visitor was a child: she was smaller than he, and light on her feet. But as he looked at the dark-haired, dark-eyed newcomer, he realised his mistake. This girl was older than any of them.

She seemed lost and tired, but elegant in the same moment. That wasn't the strangest thing, though. Although she was smiling, it seemed that at any moment she might burst into tears.

"Okay," said Joe slowly. "I don't suppose you've got any ideas about what to do now."

The girl adjusted her beret and looked around at the scene of battle, where Tai was frantically holding off some fiercely territorial Digimon.

"Run?" she suggested.

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To be continued! I'd be interested to know what you think. But- I learnt this lesson from writing One Week In Our Lives- if you have any 'conspiracy theories', email them to me. I'll tell you in the next chapter if you were right.


	2. What Might Have Been

**My Little Big Sister**

Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon.

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Part 2: What Might Have Been

_This chapter dedicated to flipstahhz_

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_Run, _she had said. And so they did.

Tai swung the unconscious figure of his little sister over one shoulder. He was surprised to catch the newcomer's expression: saying nothing to him, she nodded grimly and broke into a dash. Although she seemed to have a severe limp in her left leg, the girl ran faster than any of them.

"Where are we going?" yelled Izzy in Tai's direction, breaking the spell.

"I'd rather not waste that one safe place," he shouted back, "Guys, we're going home. Back to the real world, if we can. Iz, do you know where there's a gateway?"

The computerised directions didn't lead them wrong. In time the panicked Digidestined reached a deep chasm, surrounded by rocky cliffs. A bridge snaked its way across the darkness.

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Tai chivvied them. "There's probably a Detectormon on our tail right now!" He climbed onto the bridge and carried Kari and Agumon gently across.

"I... really think we should wait a while," said the newcomer quietly. "Really."

"You're _mad_," Matt retorted, and ran across the bridge to join Tai. "We're in trouble if we stay. Come on!" TK followed him.

"Fine. But Sora, I want to carry Biyomon," said the girl in her same flat tone of voice. With a shrug of her shoulders, Sora passed the little bird to her newfound friend and crossed the bridge, followed by Izzy and Joe.

Mimi was the last of the Digidestined to come forward. Suddenly she gasped and pointed to the sky. "Look!"

"Detectormon!" yelled Tai. "What did I tell you! Mimi and, er, whatsyourname, get across here now before one of them attacks!"

As the Detectormon swooped, Mimi made a dash for the bridge. "Palmon, c'mon!" She ran to escape the closing Digimon, which was now too close for comfort. Palmon shot out a vine and was pulled into TK's arms on the other side.

A flash of light came from the Detectormon's claws, aiming for the girl on the bridge. Mimi threw herself flat to dodge the attack, trembling as more of the hostile Digimon flew down into the chasm below.

It was a mistake. The flaming light severed the rope that connected the bridge to one side, sending it tumbling.

Mimi fell...

_-into the depths, screaming in terror. Palmon threw a vine, but her partner was already too far away to catch it. Light blazed at the bottom of the canyon, and a dozen Detectormon flew away to wherever their base was, mission completed. The bridge hung uselessly from its mooring, unable now to form a way back. As the Digidestined stood frozen, their friend's hat- the one they'd always laughed at- flew upward, caught by a freak gust. Relying more on reflexes than on thought, Tai caught it in both trembling hands, staring in wordless horror, and the-_

...onto Birdramon's outstretched wings.

The bird-Digimon swooped elegantly towards the other side of the chasm, dodging the attacks from the Detectormon below as Mimi and the newcomer held on for dear life. "That way! Down! Tai, Izzy, get the portal ready!"

Birdramon almost flew straight into the gateway, chased by the other Digimon and Digidestined. Izzy closed the portal just before a furious Detectormon slammed into it.

It was night in the city when nine humans and eight worn-out Digimon arrived. Mimi gave the newcomer a shaky smile. "Thanks. I thought I was a goner back there."

"You nearly were," was the only reply she got.

"I guess we're lucky to have you around," said Joe, sitting down on a low wall. "What's your name, anyway?"

The girl fiddled nervously with the odd white-and-silver cord that hung from her rucksack. "Well, it's... the fact is... I don't have one. Not really, not now."

"Everyone's got a name!" retorted TK. "Haven't you got any friends? What do they call you?"

She appeared to consider. "Well, my best friend does have a name for me. It's a kind of nickname." She paused, as if waiting for inspiration. "She calls me... Hika."

"Heek- what?" asked TK. "What sort of name is that?"

"TK!" hissed Matt.

"Hika," said Sora quickly, trying to make amends. "That's a _really _pretty name. I don't know anyone with a name like that."

"Yeah... well, names are different where I come from. You don't have to have one, for a start."

Hika sat back, still stroking the white cord absently. "Perhaps you should put your money together and find somewhere to stay. I don't think it's a good idea to be out in the open."

"I trust the girl," said Joe immediately, "let's get a hotel for the night."

"Then tomorrow, we really have to get back to the Digiworld," said Hika, now that all eyes were on her. "We have work to do."

"Go _back? _Are you crazy? That place is a danger zone! There's evil Digimon in control!"

"Which is why we've got to go back. And this time we do it right."

"What do you mean, this time? And why do they need us? Surely there's nothing we can do." Izzy looked confused.

Hika sighed. "I didn't want to tell you this, and I don't know if you'll understand. But we've got to change things now. If they continue as they do..." She faced the group, moonlight glittering in her dark eyes. "In a week's time, the Digiworld is going to fall, then the real world."

"We've saved it before," TK put in, "so can't we come back and save it again?"

Another long pause. "That's the other thing. If things keep going the way they are now, you won't be around." Hika's expression was deadly serious. "You really won't be around."

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Flipstahhz- Thanks so much for the review. I'm glad someone has enough of an opinion about my stories to review them, I had wondered if they were sending the readers to sleep. Hope you liked this chapter- I think the ending's a bit dodgy, but I couldn't figure how to improve it.


	3. First Interlude: Black Coffee

**My Little Big Sister**

RD doesn't own Digimon.

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_**First Interlude**_

_**Somewhere a million miles of possibility away from the group**_

_**Hika's Home**_

"_Hika? Wake up!"_

_The dark-haired girl stirred in her sleep, reluctant to be woken from the dream she'd been having. The sleeping bag was warm and comfortable, and on these early mornings it was a shame to be roused._

"_Hika, you really do want to see what I've got here." The voice was patient but firm. It had tones that suggested its owner would wait all day if necessary._

_Out of nowhere, a sweet scent caught her attention, and she sat up in bed. "What's this? You brought coffee... and _marmalade_? What's going on?"_

_Her bespectacled best friend and second-in-command grinned, squeezing Hika's hand playfully. "Happy birthday, Hika," she smiled. "You're twenty years old today. Did you forget?"_

"_I admit it! I did." Hika sipped the coffee lovingly, savouring each bittersweet mouthful. "You're an angel in disguise. How's the kitty?"_

"_Asleep. Now, are you getting up, or do I have to carry you down the corridor?"_

"_The team have something they want you to see," her friend told her as they walked the length of the subterranean corridors. "It's sort of your birthday present. They're kinda scared you're not going to like it, though."_

"_I fake things OK when I'm in a good mood," was Hika's only response._

_By 'the team' they both meant the little scientific group that lived down here, one extremely preoccupied human and two Digimon. One of them had just turned up out of the blue, a refugee of sorts. He had quickly settled in and grown to love his new home. The other had sadder circumstances surrounding his arrival, and when he hatched- quite unexpectedly- they'd wondered how to break the news to him. But he seemed to accept everything that had happened, and now he was a valuable member of the team._

"_So where have they been working, then? I haven't seen them in ages."_

_The taller girl swallowed hard and took a breath. "In the... memorial room, Hika. We're sorry."_

_A moment later, Hika exploded in rage. "They what!?"_

_A very sheepish Digimon was being faced down by an incandescent Hika, cowering to escape the force of her fury. "The memorial room? You _know _that room is- it's-" Her education broken off at an early age, the little streetfighter had never learnt the word 'sacrosanct', but her intentions were clear enough. "It's _special_! I only go in there every so often. And now you've been tinkering with your machinery in it..."_

"_Er..." The little Digimon struggled to get across his point of view. "Perhaps you should see what we've been doing."_

_The room was mostly dark, holding no candles or electric lights to break the gloom, but with one skylight in the roof that let a pool of daylight shine against the stone floor. Now, an immense machine of some sort stood in the centre. As Hika entered, a dark-haired young man stuck his head out from underneath it. "Oops, sorry Hika, didn't know you were up. I'll be with you in two ticks."_

_He clambered into the open, a tiny screwdriver lodged behind his ear. "Happy birthday, Hik'. How're you feeling?"_

"_Furious!" snapped his friend. "What are you doing working in here?"_

"_Please. We've all been helping, and we _had _to do it here. It's the only place where the light is just right, don't you see? It wouldn't work anywhere else."_

"_It... what is that thing?" She gestured towards the gigantic metal structure that caught the glow from the skylight. "Some sort of new weapon?"_

"_It's your birthday present, Hika. But me and her-" he gestured at the nervous figure holding Hika's coffee cup- "and all the Digimon've been working on it for more than a year. We thought you should be the one to use it. It's- what it does- well, as a matter of fact it's..."_

_And he told her._

"_No," said Hika instinctively. "I couldn't do that. Even if it was possible."_

"_Not to save a life, Hika?" her friend whispered. "That's how important this machine could be."_

"_I don't think I'm brave enough..." Hika was trembling all over._

"_Maybe you just need time to think," the scientist said soothingly. "Come on, everyone, we'll go and see if the kitty's awake yet. Hika, just call out if you need anything."_

_He picked up the Digimon and left the room. The girl followed him, closing the door silently. Hika, sitting there in a patch of light amongst the darkness, was left alone with her thoughts._

_**End First Interlude**_

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Kay- Note that I screamed at until it would let me log in. Note that your review is now gone. Note the small award currently arriving on your desk. Got me?

Saturnangel- Thank you. Your spelling is just fine.

Moezy-chan- Many thanks.

Flipstahhz- Lovely comments! Thanks for sticking around. More people seem to have turned up now, I wonder if it's anything to do with writing _Takari _on the summary. I am sending your computer a get-well card.


	4. Heart to Heart

**My Little Big Sister**

I don't own Digimon.

Sorry about the delay, people. My internet connection est sur le blink.

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Part Three:

Heart to Heart

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The hotel was plain but comfortable. Joe threw his medical kit to the end of the bed and sat down. "Well, we're here."

Hika snuggled into another of the beds, stretching out and laying her head on the crisp whiteness of the pillow. "Hmmmmmm. I think we should be safe here for tonight."

The Digidestined set about getting ready to sleep, but each one of them seemed distinctly distracted.

_You really won't be around._

Tai gazed absently at his friends, then down at his still-unconscious little sister. _She still hasn't woken_, he thought. _I hope Hika was right. _On the bed, Kari was silent, lost in some distant dream.

TK came over and looked down at her. "Tai, is she any better? She's been like this for ages."

"Not yet, TK," Tai muttered, strangely tense and untalkative. "Maybe later."

TK sighed and went to sit by the window, looking out at the stars.

"Don't you want to sleep, TK?" He looked around with a start. Hika was sitting on the bed next to him.

"I'm not tired."

"You're not worried about Kari, are you?" asked the older girl perceptively. "Me and Joe looked at her just before. She'll be fine."

"Yeah, I am." He looked awkward. "Well, she _is _my best friend, Hika." He paused. "It's just so weird not having her around and talking to me. I mean, I've got so used to Kari being with us already. She should be awake!"

Hika turned away, hoping TK wouldn't see the tears in her eyes as his words struck a painful chord.

_We should be fighting side by side. I shouldn't be trying to figure out the world for myself. I've done enough of that._

_You should be here._

"Hika, are you all right?" The little eight-year-old at her side looked up with a worried expression.

"I'm fine," she said. "Look, Kari'll get better. I promise you that."

Morning dawned on the city as though the night had never been there. Rays of sunlight filtered through a gap in the curtains and fell on Tai's face, stirring him from his dreams.

Hika seemed to have slept well. As the group went down for breakfast she was in an excitable mood, exclaiming over the smallest things, even sliding down the banister- to the rest of the group's annoyance. "Breakfast! Oh gosh, there's even marmalade!" Her normal maturity seemed to have gone out of the window, but somehow it was a relief for them to see her behaving like a child. Her rucksack, complete with dangling cord, swung wildly as she whirled around the hotel's breakfast table, seemingly determined to sample everything.

"So we're going back to the Digiworld," said Tai in an effort to pull things together. "Any idea how to get there?"

"Actually, I've been working on it," nodded Izzy. "I ought to have a working link up by lunchtime."

Hika froze with a spoonful of cereal halfway to her mouth. Then, remembering herself, she laughed too loudly and started absently sprinkling sugar into her coffee.

Her sudden change hadn't gone unnoticed, though. Tai replayed the conversation in his head, trying to fight off the mounting sense of panic.

_You really won't be around..._

"Izzy?" he called. But the boy-genius had already gone back to his room.

_It's nothing, _he told himself. _Forget it..._

While Joe settled the hotel bill at the front desk, Tai watched constantly as Izzy tapped buttons on his slightly battered laptop. Formulae and commands danced on the screen. "That ought to do it! Someone get Joe!" TK ran for the lobby.

However, when Joe arrived his friend was shaking his head. "I don't get it. The thing just disconnected on me, and now I can't find the file I'm after..." He called up a program that threw coloured reflections on the Digidestined's faces as they watched.

"Looks like we're not going anywhere in a hurry. Hang on while I check the system..." Frowning, he put the scanning program through a series of tasks. "Ah! Gotcha. I've got a computer virus. This oughta sort it out."

Mimi was sitting drinking lemonade when she heard Izzy's voice call from the next room. "I think it's clear! C'mon, guys, we're late already!"

Izzy picked up Tentomon from the bed and grabbed the case for his laptop under the other arm. "OK, see you in the Digiworld!"

"Wait..." Tai hardly realised he'd spoken. "Izzy, don't you think you'd better keep an eye on things from this end? I mean, none of us knows how to sort the thing out if it goes wrong."

"You sound more like Joe," Izzy laughed. "OK, I'll wait here. But we'd better go!"

Tai snatched a glance at Hika, who was standing next to TK a few steps back. The dark-eyed girl gave him a look of silent puzzlement. Hoping her silence was a good sign, he stepped forward, his heart beating faster than he'd have liked.

A single flash of light transported Tai to the Digiworld. He looked around in relief and sat down to wait for the others.

"You next, TK," said Izzy, glancing down at the symbols on his screen. "OK. Now you, Mimi... Matt... Joe, take Kari... do you want to go next, Sora? It looks like the connection's slowed down a bit, so it might take a moment..."

Sora entered the link and waited. As Izzy had promised, it took a minute before she felt the jump between worlds, and she thought she saw a lit-up horizon in the distance.

Izzy nodded with satisfaction at a job well done, and picked up Tentomon again.

He had forgotten Hika. The girl had surprising strength for someone so small and quick, and she pushed Izzy out of her way with no apparent effort at all. The cord from her bag flying out behind her, she was gone.

Izzy sighed and stepped after her, pulling the cable on the laptop as he went. _There was just no accounting for some people..._

As he sat in the no-man's-land between reality and the Digiworld, he was sure he saw a dark shimmer from the corner of his eye. Turning, he took in his surroundings. Although the world was blurred here, there was a faint suggestion of computer circuits on the horizon. Izzy waited until he saw the dark flicker again. _That darn virus! Thought I'd zapped it. Let's have a look._

Climbing to his feet, he clambered over the scenery in the direction of the disturbance. _It wouldn't be obvious if I didn't know what I was after...Here we go. Right, I wonder how I can get rid of it?_ He stared, fascinated by the smokelike movements of the computer virus. It swirled and shifted before him...

-_towards him, as he watched, unable to take his eyes away. Tentomon saw the danger too late. Izzy had told him something about trojans, viruses that looked almost harmless until you put them into operation...The little bug-Digimon buzzed frantically in Izzy's ear as the virus moved greedily in the direction of the gateway to the Digiworld. "Hang on, Tento!" Izzy yelled. "I think I can deactivate it if you give me a minute..." _

_Sora, the last to enter the Digiworld, hesitated and forced herself away from the digital transfer. "Izzy, are you OK?" Her voice seemed to add motivation to the hungry computer virus, which gathered speed and slithered through the workings of the connection, devouring circuits as it went. Tentomon shot into Sora's arms, pushing her into the Digiworld. Panicking, Izzy ran through a tangle of doomed decisions in his head before cutting a circuit almost instinctively, slamming the gateways that linked the two worlds to this connection... forever...-_

...then it recoiled as Hika jumped out of nowhere, brandishing a disk in one hand like a weapon. "Izzy, connect this up! Now!"

The antivirus program that she had snatched from Izzy's computer case worked like a charm. An explosion of white light dazzled through the connection, eradicating the virus utterly and completely.

"Why'd you do that?" complained Izzy. "I was trying to study it, Hika!"

"Oh, were you?" His friend had an apologetic tone to her voice, but there was an edge to it that Izzy didn't like. "It was dangerous, Iz! You needed a hand. Now come on! The others'll be waiting for us."

_Maybe it was dangerous, _Izzy thought as the two of them entered the Digiworld. _Hika's generally right. It's weird, we hardly know her, but she's acting like some sort of parent. Or maybe more like the little big sister I never had..._

_It's funny how easy it can be, _Hika thought. _Just one little thing, in the right place, at the right time... It'll get harder, though..._

Then, with Tentomon buzzing behind them, they entered the wide digital landscape where Tai was anxiously waiting for them.

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I'll respond to my reviewers next chapter. Ongoing technical problems.


	5. Second Interlude: This World's Prisoner

**My Little Big Sister**

**I don't own Digimon.**

**Author's note: No, I'm not AWOL. I have decided, after much thought and dilemma, that I like this story too much to let it slip, despite an incident surrounding it. You know who you are, and I'm sorry—I admire your writing, honest…**

**To Kay, this has to be said before I go on. Look, I appreciate your reviews so don't think that I don't. But if you want to guess at the future plot, for _heaven's sake do it by e-mail. _My address is silverstar1809 (at) yahoo. co. uk, it couldn't be much easier than that. See, I don't know if you realise but _everyone _can see the reviews you send, not just me. I have had to delete another review of yours, which I really didn't want to! Look, you're right. OK? Now _please _stay quiet.**

**That sorted, on with the show.**

_**Bi: You haven't let me get a word in edgeways for the whole of this story!**_

**_RD: I thought you were meant to be filing my videotapes?_**

_**Bi: I got bored. Demidevimon's doing it.**_

_**RD: Okay, but keep quiet.**_

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Chapter Four/Second Interlude

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In a distant part of the Digiworld, Tai was lying still awake. The other Digidestined lay sleeping around him. Even TK, worried and confused, had been unable to keep his eyes open.

As he heard footsteps on the grass and a buzzing above, he tensed. But the fear faded at the sight of Hika and Izzy, Tentomon flying over them. "Hey, you took a while," he whispered, smiling. "Do you realise what time it is?"

Izzy sat down a little way away, his Digimon flying to his arms. Hika silently found a sleeping-space somewhere between Tai and TK. Before he could ask her where she'd been, she was lost in sleep.

A frown transformed the young woman's face for a minute or two, then gave way to the return of her triumphant smile. Tai lay down again, wondering what his new friend could be dreaming about tonight.

…………………………

_The young girl, no more than eleven at the oldest, ran silently through the scattered bricks and glass that still littered this part of the city. Light on her feet and quick of thought, she was constantly on the lookout for danger. A smaller figure followed her, tensed as she was, staying at her heels and dodging the shards of glass beneath their feet. Hika too was barefoot, until she could find a pair of shoes to fit her; it worsened the limp in her left leg, the last thing she needed, but she had other things to worry about._

_She didn't know what she was looking for, exactly, but she'd been told that she would know it when she found it. Two nights already she'd searched and failed. It was crucial that she didn't fail again this time._

_For three years Hika had been a survivor. Knowing how to keep her head down, accepting all that had gone before, locking memories away if there was a chance they might hurt, honouring the past but knowing it was lost forever, she was a rare child of her time. But it was winter now, the coldest in many years. Two weeks ago she'd slipped on ice and now her bad leg was more of a burden. And her closest friend—Hika still used the word 'boyfriend' in the privacy of her mind, a word that made no sense here but had implications to the little eleven-year-old—was ill now, lying back home under the bridge, cared for—of course—but unable to come with her. There was no choice. She had had to seek help._

_Someone had told her a name, and to her surprise it had struck a forgotten chord. The search was dangerous, of course, and she often didn't get home until the treacherous hours of the morning. But she wasn't alone and she wouldn't despair. She would find it._

_Now she was facing a metal grille in the cobbled pavement, apparently belonging to the long deserted house above. She looked around carefully, then tapped it with a ringing sound that echoed somewhere below._

_There was silence, which she'd expected. Hika took a long-saved notebook and pencil from her pocket and wrote on the top page in the untidy scrawl of an eight-year-old—the handwriting she'd been left with—"Please, let me in."_

_She dropped the note into the dark depths, between the bars of the grille. Silently she counted the seconds. When she reached one hundred and fifteen, a voice called up out of the blackness._

"_Who's that? Who's there?"_

"_I need help," she answered as loudly as she dared. "You've got to let me in."_

_The next words were the cover she'd expected. "This is a warehouse, not a soup kitchen. Who are you and what do you want? Human or Digimon?"_

"_Human. Do you own this place?" Hika called._

"_I do." The voice was slightly quieter._

"_You have to let me in," she repeated. "My friend is sick. We're alone. Someone told me I could come to you." There was only silence in response. "Hello?"_

"_I don't know if I can trust you." There was honesty in the tone this time._

"_I know your name," she called by way of password._

"_A lot of people do. So what?"_

_Hika took a breath of cold midnight air, and inspiration came. "What if I told you I knew your nickname? The one your friends used to call you?"_

"_You couldn't." She sensed surprise. "All right, if you're so clever. Write it down and throw it down here."_

_A few pencil marks were all it took. She tore the page from the notebook, folded it roughly and dropped the paper into the dark._

_There was the sound of movement, no longer so far below. Hika grinned to herself. Childhood nicknames were like a codeword these days, something no-one could guess and few could know._

_The grille slid upwards and she found herself looking into the eyes of a boy her age, his dark hair ruffled and his clothes untidy—but then, Hika mentally scolded, she looked no better herself. He stared at her, then at her companion in panic. "You never told me you'd brought a--" _

"_She's harmless. I promise." Hika was quick to temper his fears. The boy continued to gaze at her._

"_Do I know you?" he asked eventually._

_She shook her head. "But you were friends with… someone I used to know." Without another word, she brought her hand to her forehead to show him. She took a step back instinctively as his eyes followed, as if she expected him to challenge her, to deny her right to be influenced by the past. He didn't._

"_You'd better come in."_

_The old underground warehouse was shadowed, but in a strange way it felt cosy. A lilac-haired girl was sitting on a stack of wooden crates, mending something mechanical in a pool of candlelight. "Hi," she said, looking up. "He let you in, did he? I'm impressed." Further along a corridor, someone was humming softly, the tune echoing against the walls._

"_You, girl?" She looked up and saw the boy who'd let her in. "You said you had a sick friend. Where are they? I'll go get them."_

_Hika sat down and let the distant sounds flow over her. She was safe..._

"Hika, wake up!" The shout was like a blow to the girl's eardrums. "Hika!"

TK was shaking her, an expression of panic on his face. "We gotta get out of here! Come on!"

-----------------------------------------------------

**Well, there you have it. Sorry if it wasn't worth the wait. **

**Child-of-Darkness1988: We aren't the same person... although that sounds like a fanfic idea in itself.**

**Flipstahhz: How's your long-suffering computer? Thanks for the review. (Though I'd rather you were working on your own fics than reviewing mine... how many cliffhangers is that you've got me on now?)**

**Moezy-chan: Thanks, I think.**


	6. Tangled Webs

**My Little Big Sister**

I own nothing but my radio.

No, I'm still not MPD. I was stuck on how this was going to continue. I know the ending, it's just the bit in the middle that's bothering me. Still, I'm at uni now and have some time to myself. So, on with the show...

There's some romance in this chapter, too… just a smidgen of Hika x unnamed. Enjoy.

------------

Chapter Five

------------

"Hika, come on!" TK refused to stop tugging at the girl's tee-shirt. "Wake up!"

"What is it?" With catlike reflexes, Hika swung herself into a crouched position, ready to run if need be. "Are they after us again?"

"Might be." It was Joe who answered, standing over the two of them. "Mimi went out exploring and she's come back looking like something attacked her. Tai reckons we'd better get out of here."

The Digidestined were bandaging Mimi's arm with Joe's first aid kit. "It was some sort of trap," the girl managed. "I tripped over something and then all these insects shot at me..."

"The stings aren't poisonous," Izzy reassured the group. "I think she did more damage crashing through that bush trying to get away." Mimi fingered the scratch on her cheek, wincing at the memory of the thorny branches.

"Oh, a trap." Hika sighed. "Weren't you even _looking_? Sounds like the sort of thing that--" She stopped. "...Like the sort of thing that can be quite nasty if you're not careful. I'm glad you got back here safe, Mimi."

Tai had the feeling she was biting back a criticism.

They continued on. It was all they could do, really; permanent safety was a thing of the past, now. Tai had got used to carrying the unconscious Kari on his shoulder, and TK carried Gatomon when she was too tired to walk. Joe had put ointment on Mimi's cuts and scratches. It was strange, Tai reflected, how they'd all come together. Since Hika had begun helping them, they almost acted in unison, without needing to say a word.

But his happiness was tainted by worry, always. He knew that every step they took placed them in great danger, and yet… not to travel on would be even more perilous. And with every near-mistake the group made, every stumble of TK's foot, every insects' nest that Mimi blundered into, Hika's words came back to haunt him.

_You really won't be around._

He was brought out of his reverie once again, this time by Sora's voice. "Tai? Are you all right?" Turning to her, he nodded and managed a weak smile. His friend returned it, but as he walked on he saw her following closer than before, watching him. Biyomon fluttered at her side like a tiny guardian angel, her little wings outstretched. On his other side, Hika was standing, though he hadn't heard her footsteps. Further back, Matt was walking alongside TK, but his voice could still be heard, talking encouragingly to the blonde-haired child.

Somehow, Tai felt better. Whatever he had to face in the coming days, he was not alone. He had Matt, his best friend. He had Sora, who wouldn't let him down. He had Hika…

"Don't worry."

He turned, startled, to see the young woman smiling at him. The next moment, she had turned away, the white cord of her rucksack swinging round and catching against his hand. The soft, almost furry touch of it reminded him of his cat, Miko, at home. But that thought was insignificant, buried beneath a stranger, deeper one.

_You know me._

There was something deep within Hika's pretty, dark eyes that connected with him instantly. Although it was a powerful feeling, Tai knew it wasn't love, or even friendship. He couldn't put a name to it.

Now that he thought of it… how did Hika know him? How did she know any of them? She had never asked their names. Yet the very first words he'd heard her say, that day in the canyon, were the two words of a name: Joe Kido.

There was something. Something Hika wasn't telling him. It was something to do with the way she was; her dark eyes, her quick movement, the fall of her hair. He couldn't fight the feeling that the answer he was looking for was right in front of him, if only he could find it.

_You know me._

_Or is it… that I know you?_

"What do you mean, don't worry?" were the words that he spoke aloud. "I have plenty to worry about."

Hika said nothing. She continued to walk, her eyes on the road ahead.

They camped, that night, in the depths of a forest. For once, TK fell asleep immediately, instead of sitting awake by Kari's side. The long day's walk had tired him, and he didn't even wait for Joe to set up the campsite before falling asleep curled on Mimi's shawl. As the other Digidestined decided in whispered voices who was to keep watch, Hika sat by the eight-year-old's side, just as he had by his friend.

Eventually, the duties were decided. Joe set his alarm clock to beep when Matt's two hours of watching were up, and the others lay down, exhausted, to sleep. Hika joined them, closing her eyes and letting herself slip into a peaceful dream.

Matt switched places with Mimi after the two hours had gone, lying down near TK. In the moment before he fell asleep, he saw Hika's outstretched arm. In her sleep, she was holding his brother's hand, clutching it as she dreamed of a friend she missed.

"_No…"_

_Hika was clutching her pillow, sobbing until she could not see through the falling tears. She knew nothing, nothing save the terrible images that had come to her, again, in her sleep. After so long, after five years, the little thirteen-year-old had still never completely healed._

_Her lips formed words, whispered through her sobs in the still darkness. "Please. Take me away from here. I can't do this any more…"_

_A hand touched her shoulder. "Hika."_

_She shuddered once with the cold shock of not being alone. Then, sitting up, Hika wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her hands, and looked into the eyes of the boy she loved._

"_Hika, are you all right?"_

_She reached up to him, still tearful. There was no need for any words._

_The touch of his hand had woken her. And the silent love between them could not heal Hika's wounds, but it could bandage them, take away the pain until the time came for her to feel their presence again. She was lost in his eyes, lost in his love. She was lost, and she never wanted to be found._

_After an age of time holding her in his arms, he stepped away. Silently, he left the room, passing the makeshift cat-basket on the floor, disappearing from her sight._

_Hika climbed out of her bunk and threw her faded sweater over the tee-shirt she wore, shivering in the cold air of a new day._

"Eeeeeeeeegh!"

Hika woke, staring at nothing. _So it was a dream. Nothing more._

Mimi's piercing scream woke the Digidestined from their sleep. Tai rubbed his eyes dizzily, covering his ears, then staring as the young girl's incoherent squealing gave way to a single word.

"_Spiders!"_

"Spiders?" Joe complained. "She gets us out of bed for _spiders_?"

Mimi stood a short distance away from the others, frozen in place. She had not stopped screaming. Palmon shot a long vine towards her, trying to pull her back to the group. Eventually, Tai came over to her. "Mimi, what—"

He stopped.

There were, indeed, spiders.

They were black-scaled creatures, about the length of Tai's arm. Each one was scuttling at a frightening pace towards the camp, eight hairy legs waving. The Digidestined leader paled as he saw them. "Matt! Hika! Joe! Sora!" he yelled, pulling Mimi by the hand. "Strike camp, NOW! Let's get out of here!"

They obeyed him without needing to ask why. TK snatched up the sleeping Gatomon, while Matt grabbed Kari and swung her across one shoulder. And they ran.

Izzy was one of the only ones who dared to risk a look over his shoulder. "They're following us, Tai," he gasped. "They're still following us!"

"We can outrun them," Tai panted, hoping it was true. "Don't slow down."

A sudden shiver ran down his spine as he heard, somewhere behind him, an anguished little cry of fear.

"_Sora!_"

Biyomon was trapped in a sticky silver web, flailing her wings to try and free herself. Sora whirled round and ran back, ignoring Joe's shouted warnings.

"Bi! Biyomon! Are you all right?"

"No!" the little bird screamed. "Sora—something's—got—me…"

Tai and Hika exchanged glances for a moment, nothing more. Then, without warning, _both_ of them doubled back and ran as fast as they could.

Sora was struggling with a spider-thing, trying to pull it away from the web it had spun around Biyomon. She finally got it free, and hurled it across the clearing with the strength and speed that had made her a brilliant sports player, one summer and an eternity away.

"Sora, be careful!" Tai yelled, but the red-haired girl didn't even look round. She booted another spider and began to tug at the silver threads that held her Digimon in place. Around her, dozens of pairs of red eyes blinked sluggishly. The spider-creatures were slow of thought, but quick of instinct; it wouldn't take long…

_before they realised that this long-legged, alien thing in a blue hat was trying to rob them of their prey. They clicked among themselves furiously, before closing in._

_Tai could only watch in horror as Sora was surrounded by a ring of spiders, already too thick for him to break through. Only now did the young girl look up and realise what was happening. Panic flooded her mind as she stared around for an escape. The closely tangled branches above wouldn't support a Digimon, let alone a human, and spiders blocked the way on all sides._

_Biyomon, locked in sticky thread, was sobbing and fluttering uselessly. Sora tore desperately at the strands with her fingers, finally managing to free the little bird. But the web was not designed only to imprison, and in the time it had taken to split the threads, it had done its work. Bi was unable to fly._

_Unable to do anything to help, Tai turned and ran as Sora stood terrified in the circle of spiders, hunched over as she held Biyomon tight, protecting the little bird with all she had…_

_Matt, TK and the unconscious Kari were already some distance away. At the first sight of Sora's capture, the Digidestined of Friendship had fled the clearing, dragging the younger ones with him. Tai grabbed his little sister and gestured wildly at the others. "Come on!" he yelled, the raw power of his voice startling them. Not daring to question him, they followed at a run._

_Only when they were well beyond the forest clearing, and their panicked dash had slowed to a walk, did TK finally form the question. "Tai, where… where's Sora?"_

_Tai found it best to pretend he hadn't heard the question; staring straight ahead, he continued walking, letting his face and manner betray nothing. Matt bent down and took his brother's hand, sharing wordless sympathy. "It… it's just us now, TK. Just us."_

_The blond child nodded, a tear stealing into his eye._

"_Hey now, TK," Matt picked up, "you mustn't cry, or you might not see something coming… Don't cry until we're safe, little brother. Not until we're safe."_

Hika's expression was one of intense concentration as she surveyed the scene. Then she turned. "Tai," she said. "I need you to help me."

"Pepper Breath!"

Agumon's attack scorched a strand of web, creating a briefly burning fire that fizzled into ugly embers at Sora's feet. Tai and the little dinosaur-Digimon were on the attack, wreaking havoc on the startled spiders. With a clicking sound of speech, the myriad monsters abandoned their assault on Sora and came for Agumon instead. But Hika was at Sora's side, pulling the girl's crest and Digivice out from amongst her torn clothes, almost forcing Biyomon to digivolve. Then the two girls moved fast, pulling their friends onto Garudamon's back, holding tight as the bird-Digimon rose high into the air.

"You…" Sora was out of breath. "Tai, you and Hika saved Bi. You're _brilliant._"

Hika blushed, looking away. Tai made a mental note of the fact.

It was the first time he'd seen her show weakness outside of her dreams.


	7. Third Interlude: World's End

**My Little Big Sister**

_Still not dead, still don't own Digimon._

**Third Interlude**

* * *

_**Realworld, Odaiba City**_

_**Hika's Fifteenth Birthday**_

_They were there, together, on the day that the last fragment of Hika's world would end. _

_She didn't know it yet, of course. Now, her eyes were still bright with hope, and her world was her own, a world built over the years amongst this new kind of normal. Now, she didn't know there was anything of her left to break._

_She would know._

"_You're fifteen," he told her, and smiled when she showed surprise. "You forgot, didn't you?"_

"_I forgot." She gazed at the stars. They were sitting together, their missions for the night completed, hand in hand on one of the city's deserted rooftops._

"_It's seven years," she said, her hand absently stroking white fur as she watched the sky. "Seven years since it all came down. It feels like…" She paused._

"_Like longer?" he guessed, resting his head on the cold tiles._

"_Maybe." She sat in contemplation for a moment. "But sometimes it feels like I never really woke up. Like all of this has just been one dream, in one night."_

"_Hika." He put his arm around her._

"_Like I'm going to wake up someday, and they'll be… they'll all be…" She couldn't continue. There was a needed, precious silence._

"_I never gave you your birthday present," he remembered, and pulled something from his pocket. She laughed in spite of herself when she saw it was a hat; a silly little thing, small and dark-coloured and with a bow of oddly pretty ribbon attached to one corner. Lifting it in both hands, she put it on._

"_I haven't had a birthday present these seven years," she smiled. "I won't forget tonight. Or this hat."_

_If she could, she would have sat there until dawn. But there were children back at the base—Hika used the word, carelessly now, for humans much, much younger than herself. They needed to be looked after and sheltered. There were chores to do, meals to make. "C'mon, kitty-cat," Hika muttered. "Gotta get home."_

_The two of them moved as lightly and as stealthily as cats themselves, creeping through the city by the faint moonlight. It wasn't far to go. Back when—Hika swallowed for a moment—back when that guy, Davis, had still been alive, they'd all been trained to take alternative routes home, to dodge any unseen pursuit. Nowadays, it was assumed that the Digimon in this city simply didn't care about what was going on far beneath their feet._

_This was the day that Hika's world would end. But she didn't know it. She thought she knew this part of town, as safe as anyone could be in this place._

_As she stepped over a broken pipe near the riverbank, Hika lost her footing. It was an accident that could have happened to anyone, anywhere: a few fallen beams from a damaged roof, lying unseen in her path, caught by her lame foot. She scrabbled for balance, but her feet in their battered, ill-fitting shoes would not help her. Helplessly falling, Hika landed in the cold water of the river, spluttering for air._

_The hand she clamped over her mouth was too late to stop her shriek of terror._

_As she struggled to the shore, holding tightly to the rucksack she always carried, the glow of moonlight on the water was split by an eruption, a mountain of scales and metal rising from the river._

_Hika stared up at her destiny. The girl who'd faced down dangers at the age of nine years was paralysed by fear, unable to make a sound or even to throw her beloved rucksack of belongings to safety._

_An ear-splitting roar left her in no doubt. _

_She was a trespasser. This was their city, and she did not belong alive._

_As though she were still dreaming, Hika was only half aware of the bolts of air that shot over her head, slamming the dragon with a barrage of power. Roaring now not in anger, but in pain, it turned away from her. The current of water as it moved pulled girl and rucksack back into the icy water, back into a breathless struggle for the surface. Hika did not consider for a moment that it might be better to drown. For her, the story was ended, perhaps, but not for the tiny, precious life still cradled in her rucksack._

_Breaking the surface, Hika took a deep breath, forcing her eyes to open. _

_The water was as still and quiet as a dreamless night._

_Forcing herself to swim, Hika made it to the riverbank, calling her boyfriend's name. "Where are you? I'm safe… I'm OK… don't worry, please, I'm here, I'm here…"_

_She paused for a moment, catching sight of a figure lying on the bank, not understanding. Then she ran to him._

"_Hika?" His eyes managed to focus on her as she crouched over him, emptying her bag in a search for medicine, for supplies. _

"_Shhh. Don't try to talk. I've got to get you home so we can fix you up."_

_Her hat, her silly ribboned hat, slipped over her eyes as she tried to work through her panicky tears. She shoved the egg that lay at his side into her rucksack, not looking at it or caring for its future. Someone else would worry for that._

"_Hika…" And somehow, there were a thousand unspoken words in that one. Hika knew them in her heart, but still she fought against them, tearing at her shirt for makeshift bandages, soaking them in the water of the river._

"_It was a… dragon," he whispered, every word painful. "He saved me from… a dragon. Twice, Hika. That was… that was how…"_

"_But that was seven years ago," she stammered, not sure why the words were coming to her. "He's not here. He's somewhere else now, my love."_

"_No, he… isn't," the boy murmured, and this time, he wasn't looking at Hika. With a slight smile, he gazed somewhere past her worried eyes. "He's… here. Hika… he's here."_

_It was over. It had always been over._

_Hika was broken. The world around her became a blur as she let one final word escape. "Why?"_

"_I… promised." He said it as though it explained everything._

_And his lips formed her name. Not the alien name she'd taken as her own, as created and foolish as the hat she wore, but her childhood nickname, the name she hadn't heard in seven long years._

_A tiny head poked itself out from her rucksack. "Hika!" snapped a small, high voice. Startled even in her despair, she jumped to her feet._

"_Hika. Remember what you told me." The small figure in the shadows tugged at her clothes, forcing her to walk forward, step by stumbling step. "Don't cry until we're safe. Don't cry until we're safe. Don't cry…"_

"_I'm the last now," Hika whispered. Her tears gone for the moment, she reached up in a kind of cold anger, snapping the chain of her necklace. Once, she had clung to it as a magical talisman; now, it was only a stupid trinket. It couldn't save _him. _"The last of them. Why me?" The words were addressed to no-one in particular, or to anyone who would listen. "Why did it have to be me?"_

_Hika was gone, now. For the people around her, she would be there still, caring for those she had loved. But something that had been present for seven years was gone, flown away before the dawn._

_She would not forget._

_When the time came, she would not forget._

_And the words formed on Hika's lips as she threw open the door of the memorial room._

_"I'll go."_


	8. For Whatever Home Means

**My Little Big Sister:**

**Chapter Six  
**

**For Whatever Home Means**

_Just one more time for ever, because he'll always have a place in my heart._

_I don't own Digimon._

* * *

"Matt?"

The fair-haired boy turned at the sound of his brother's voice. TK had fallen behind during the day, weary with the constant walking. Hika had tried to chivvy him along, stroking his blond hair with affection and telling him that he was surely the bravest of the Digidestined. But such attention could not be kept up forever.

"What is it, TK?" Matt turned to look at his brother, who was still struggling along with Patamon sitting on his head.

"How much further're we going to go, Matt?" There was a kind of pleading in TK's voice. "Where are we gonna stop?"

Matt glanced at TK's scuffed shoes. "I don't know, TK. You can ride on my shoulders again for a bit, if you'd like."

"I have a better idea," Gabumon put in. A few seconds later, the great white wolf that was Matt's champion-level Digimon stood before them. "Ride on my back. I can't hold this form for long, but it'll do for a while."

The two children climbed gratefully onto Garurumon's back, and Tai handed up Kari to be carried along with them. TK pulled off his shoes and clutched them in both hands, enjoying the freedom of the cool air on his feet. It was a relief to rest, and none of the others begrudged Matt and TK the privilege. Matt had carried his brother for most of the morning, and TK himself had put up with a far longer walk than should have been asked of an eight-year-old.

"If Biyomon didn't feel so shaky, we could have a free flight, Sora," Mimi complained. Hika shot her a glance that could have meant anything.

---...---

It seemed an age before evening came. No sooner had their camp site been decided than Tai was gone again, this time to see if he could find any firewood in this treeless wilderness, taking Sora and Joe with him. Hika lay in the shadow of a tall rock, utterly exhausted and asleep before Mimi had even kicked off her shoes. A short distance away, Izzy typed sleepy commands into his laptop.

"Watch Kari for me," TK managed before falling asleep, wrapped in Mimi's shawl. Matt nodded and sat down beside the unconscious girl.

_There can't be much more of this left, _he thought. _Surely Hika will think how to solve all this mess sooner or later. Then we can finally all go home. No more dragging TK places he doesn't want to go. Sure, he's my brother, but he can be a bit of a nuisance when he's tired. And so heavy to carry, too. At least I don't have to do that at home, and pretend that it isn't making any trouble for me at all…_

Matt ruffled Kari's hair with one hand, absently. "I think it's you that keeps us going as much as anything, kiddo," he reflected. Naturally, there was no reply.

Mimi sighed in her sleep. Izzy, too, had lain down, his head on the bag he used to carry his laptop. Matt resigned himself to the fact that he had silently been volunteered for first watch.

"Matt?" The small voice made him start.

"Now what, TK?" The reply came out more sharply than he had wanted, and he felt a slight twinge of guilt.

"I'm scared." TK sat up, wrapping Mimi's red shawl tightly around his shoulders.

"Scared of what, Teeks? I'm watching the campsite. Nothing's going to happen." Matt waved a hand dismissively. "Now go back to sleep."

"I'm scared about Kari. She still hasn't woken up." TK took a breath before his brother could answer. "And about Hika."

"You're scared for _Hika?_" Matt rolled his eyes. "Sheesh, of all the things. Don't you think Hika can handle herself?"

"I don't know."

TK was silent, but Matt sensed his worry. With a sigh, he shuffled closer to where his little brother was sitting. Even if his watch finished, it looked as though he would be getting no sleep until the over-anxious eight-year-old did.

Overhead, a thunderclap split the night sky. Perhaps they would be in for rain, the following day. Even if it would slow them down, the coolness in the air would be welcome.

_Tai should be back soon, _he thought.

---...---

"Matt?"

"_What?_" This time, he made no attempt to hide his frustration: he'd thought that TK had fallen asleep in the silence.

"Can I go get a drink of water? I can't sleep."

Matt sighed. "As far as I know, there's only the water in the lake. If you like drinking that, well, it's up to you, I guess."

There was a shuffling of footsteps on the dust, and TK's small figure became a silhouette in a sliver of moonlight as he knelt down to cup his hands.

Afterwards, Matt could never say why the word had come into his head. It was an impulse, something he couldn't resist, and he had spoken it before even knowing what he had done.

"Hika?" he called out, not in the whisper he'd been using to talk to TK, but in his normal voice.

The young woman stirred from her sleep. "Whassit? Matt?"

"Sorry, Hika." He sighed, looking down at his feet. "I didn't realise you were asleep." In fact, he realised to his annoyance, he'd had no reason whatsoever for calling her name.

"Never mind." As the clouds shifted in the sky, moonlight shone down into Hika's eyes. To Matt's shock, he saw the glitter of a tear.

_Perhaps TK was right. Maybe she isn't as tough as she always makes out to be._

"Huh?" Hika's voice broke his thoughts. "Why aren't there any trees? Where are we, anyway?"

"You know where we are. It's where we made camp this evening." Matt paused. "Come to think of it, you fell right asleep. You must've been too tired to look around."

Hika was kneeling now, not wanting to go back to sleep. "And where's Tai?"

"With Joe and Sora, gathering firewood." He shifted uncomfortably, trying to find a better position to keep watch. "And TK is down by the lake. He's gone to fetch a drink—"

"—of water," Hika finished slowly.

The look in her eyes sent a chill through Matt's body. Turning away from her, he got to his feet. "TK? TK!"

"What?" TK looked up, puzzled at the sudden noise. "Is something wrong?"

"TK, I think you should—"

The world exploded.

A torrent of water showered down over Matt and Hika. Mimi squealed in her sleep as the droplets soaked her clothes.

"TK? Are you all right?" Matt's yell carried across the lake, echoing into the distance.

The answer was a deafening roar.

A pair of enormous wings spread across the water, followed almost immediately by a curving, spiked head. There was another crash as the body of the huge Digimon rose into the sky.

"Dragon," Matt whispered, unable to move for his terror.

He managed to turn and look at Hika. For once, the older girl was not in control of the situation. Her head bowed, she closed her tearful eyes as if remembering something she would rather forget.

TK stood frozen on the shore, trying in vain to tear his eyes away from the monster.

"Hika. _Hika._" Matt attempted to attract the girl's attention. She would know what to do. She always knew what to do.

"Matt." It was Gabumon, running to his partner's side. "You want me to do anything?"

Matt glanced across at TK, paralysed with fear in the gaze of the dragon. "Can you Digivolve? Run and get him?"

"Doubt I could hold it for more than a minute," Gabumon answered regretfully. Matt kicked a stone in frustration, staring at the scene in front of him. Patamon hovered next to him, sobbing helplessly. The little Digimon was obviously too exhausted to transform, even for a second.

"Stupid." Hika seemed to be staring at nothing. "Stupid idiot."

"Who?" Matt shook her shoulder, hoping to wake her from her reverie.

"Me. I can't believe I didn't spot this situation coming." There was something in her eyes a lot like panic. "I'm forgetting, Matt. I'm finding it harder to remember what he said."

"Hika! Look at me, for crying out loud!" Matt was practically screaming now. "TK is in danger. Tell me. What to do. Now!"

"TK?" The word seemed to bring Hika back to reality. "I remember!" Jumping to her feet, she ran forward a few steps. "Matt, we have to do something, and fast."

"No kidding." Matt gestured towards Gabumon. "He says he can digivolve for about a minute. I could maybe try to go get TK, or create a distraction or something."

"_No!_" The force of Hika's reply shocked him. "If one minute is all he's got, we're gonna make that minute count. I'll tell him what to do. You wake up Mimi."

As the dragon swooped towards the frightened TK, a small, glowing red light shot past it, dazzling the creature's eyes. Tentomon wheeled round and dived back into Izzy's arms, utterly terrified.

Roaring aloud, the Digimon turned to see what was attacking it. Faster than it could blink, a green vine wrapped around its body, flattening its wings.

"Go, Mimi!" Hika yelled, and Palmon dropped the ivy vines as a glow of pale green light enveloped her. The next minute, the dragon was writhing in a shower of needles as Togemon attacked.

A blue light shone close to the ground, dazzling TK's eyes as he tried to hide. From somewhere nearby, he heard the sound of running paws.

Then he was in Matt's arms, riding Garurumon towards the shelter of the rocky cliffs.

Togemon and Kabuterimon bombarded the dragon-Digimon with their attacks, co-ordinated by Hika's signals. Garurumon's Howling Blaster joined them a moment later, fading into a simple Blue Blaster as the white wolf finally used up the last of his energy.

Then another roar split the silence, and Greymon descended like an avenging angel. It seemed only a few seconds before the dragon that had threatened them was nothing but a cloud of pixels, drifting into the wind.

---...----

Against all odds, TK was sleeping.

Matt could only suppose that the terror and excitement of the night had worn out his younger brother. Tai was asleep too, lying on the other side of Kari's eternally still body. Save for Sora, who was keeping watch, he could see no-one else awake.

"Bar of chocolate for your thoughts."

He jumped, then looked behind him. "Oh, Hika. It's you."

"It's me," she said simply, sitting down beside him.

"Listen, Hika…" He paused. "I just wanted to say thanks. To you. For what you did tonight."

"Don't mention it." Her reply was short and almost harsh, as if she was thinking of something else.

_TK _was_ right, _he thought. _She is more fragile than I thought._

What he said, eventually, was "Hika, are you all right?"

"I nearly got it wrong tonight," she said softly. "Matt, it's getting harder and harder to remember what I was told before I came here. It seems so far away, somehow."

He didn't know what she meant, or what to say.

"You looked troubled," he told her finally. "Was that what was making you cry?"

"No." She shook her head, absently fingering the ribbon on her hat. "That was something else. The dragon, and TK there… it just reminded me of something. That was all."

"If you hadn't been there…" He stared at nothing for a moment. "If you hadn't been there, TK would've died. I can't stand thinking about that."

"I know." She gave him another of those uninterpretable looks.

"It's a good thing Tai came back when he did, that's all."

"I... I know."

_Holding the bundle of wood awkwardly in his arms, Tai struggled back towards the cliffs where he had left Matt, Kari and TK. Agumon trailed behind him, carrying as much as his feeble, clawed arms would allow._

_The silence was the first thing to strike him, along with the fact that the flimsy fire they'd made had gone out. Then he saw another, smaller light, higher up among the rocks. Unsure what he would find, he moved towards it._

_At first, it looked as though the figure slumped inside the shallow cave was unconscious. Then Tai saw one raised hand stroke Gatomon's white fur, as if in a dream. Kari lay nearby, oblivious to it all._

_"Look. It's Tai." The cat-Digimon shook her companion's shoulder. "He came back."_

_"Tai…"_

_The fair-haired boy looked at him without really looking, and Tai knew with a cold certainty what was wrong._

_"He's gone," he whispered, and it wasn't a question. He had no need to ask where the missing child was._

_"He's gone."_

Matt had long given up trying to guess what time it was. Now, his conversation with Hika kept him from the guilt and worry that haunted his mind.

"Hika?" A thought occurred to him. "How did you get so good at fighting? You're only a few years older than Joe."

"Age doesn't have anything to do with it." She leant back, setting her rucksack down. "In… the country where I come from, there's a war on. You learn to fight pretty quick."

"Oh." Matt felt out of his depth. "You speak Japanese pretty good, for a foreigner."

Her smile was a puzzle as she looked back at him. "Well, I've known a lot of Japanese people in the past. My… boyfriend came from there."

"Your boyfriend?" It was the first time he'd heard her mention anything of the sort.

"Yeah." She looked away for a moment, taking in the silver light on the lake. "He had fair hair a bit like yours, Matt."

"You must miss him." She nodded, silently. "Hika, will you be able to get home once you're done with whatever's brought you here? Because I sure don't know how _we're_ getting home, and Tai really doesn't have money for an aeroplane ticket."

"It's OK. I could go home any time, if I wanted to." She sighed. "But I'm not going."

"Not…?" Matt stared. "Hika, what about your home? Your boyfriend? Your friends? Won't people miss you?"

"I told you, there's a war on. They'll just think I'm dead." Hika was quiet for a moment. "And if I go back, sooner or later, I will be."

"Then…" He couldn't see that the offer was his to make, but he said the words anyway. "You're welcome to stay with us, Hika. Heck, we owe you just about all our lives. If you want to make this your home, you'll always be welcome."

"Thank you." Her expression was hard to see in the darkness. Rummaging through her bag, she pulled out a small flask. "Here, have some of this. It'll help you to sleep."

Matt sipped the strange-tasting drink cautiously. It didn't feel comforting or warm, but within moments, he felt darkness spilling out into his body.

"Matt?" Hika whispered. Her voice seemed very far away.

"Huh?"

"TK would've been all right." Her words enveloped him in warmth as he slipped into his dreams. "After all, he had you."

Her voice faded to nothing as Matt slept.

---...---

_"Tai." There was no sign of hope in the voice that finally spoke. "Tai, I can't do this any more."_

_"You have to," Tai answered, as gently as he could. "For the whole Digiworld. We have to keep going, no matter how much we lose on the way. There's no-one but us."_

_"He was my brother, Tai. He said... He said it was…"_

_Tai nodded. "He was your brother, and he cared about you. I know. And if we don't keep going, I'm going to lose my sister. Kari. If you can't live for the Digiworld, at least think of that."_

_On some level, the words seemed to break through. They couldn't stop the tears, but Tai felt the boy's resolve strengthen as the two of them sat together._

_"I'll keep going," he whispered, each word a struggle. "For Kari."_

_"For Kari," Tai nodded, and reached out for TK's hand._

* * *

**If you don't get the ending to this chapter, feel free to drop me a message and I'll try to explain. But if you know me, I imagine you won't have to. I actually feel this chapter is closer than I've ever got to the way that Matt actually is, which is ironic considering how I felt about him for the best part of my teenage years. Still, it's one last indulgence, if you will.  
**

**Rainbow "It must've been love but it's over now" Daydreamer  
**


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